I’ll be turning 50 in the coming Jan. I find myself in a position to influence and decide on a lot of things — at some scale — that could have an impact on climate. On the other hand, the lock-in into energy and materials, outcomes and measures of success…

“We don’t know how to be a civilization without fossil fuels” writes umair haque. It’s the most succinct summarization of our current times I’ve read. It’s like a 15 year old with a debit card accessing their fairly rich parents’ account with no maturity, restraint, or sense of balance. …

All species interact with the planet in a gazillion ways. Obviously. Except that us humans, over millennia, have created layers of physical and conceptual/mythical abstractions atop the planet. Today we’re at a juncture where we interact only with these layers, by and large, and hardly with the planet. This is…

So, this happened. Brazilian researchers find 'terrifying' plastic rocks on remote island TRINDADE ISLAND, Brazil, March 15 (Reuters) - The geology of Brazil's volcanic Trindade Island has fascinated…www.reuters.com Oh well. I guess it’s a milestone of sorts. I also read came across this last week. Most of what we’ve junked into the oceans isn’t even stuff we primarily use in the water. It’s just, plain, purely a dustbin.

That freshly asphalted road The sparkling granite lobby The towering buildings Flyovers, runways, edifices, Proclamations of success, Marking territory Asserting dominance. These were mountains once, And grasslands and forests That birthed, nurtured and nourished Generations of life Now consigned to oblivion In the victorious mausoleums Of these deathscapes.

Ignore the details of that picture. It’s some representation of the complexity of our economic system across the world. It includes our consumption, our work, our choices, our actions at various levels — individually, as organizations, countries, etc. I was born in a certain network in 1974. There were a…

Most of human civilisation and individual quests could be said to be built around the desire for ever more predictability and control over outcomes. For starters, it’s a spectrum and there’s no complete, true predictability of every variable possible in the human realm. Then there’s a point where the hidden costs actually add to the reverse of this — and there’s diminishing returns. Climate change was caused by many such costs adding up across people, places and time, and has brought upon us unpredictability much larger than the species has likely ever faced as a whole.

I read a story about the planet dying, even more than I thought it was. I read about microplastics in the kids’ bloodstream. I read about the imminent starvation, the food crises brewing. I read about the madness we call the economy. Then I check the value of my investments, Track the peak of the Sensex. I check into the evening flight home From the just-firm-enough bed of the hotel I checked into

The perfectly finished coat of paint On the car that can do a gazillion things And even now talk to you Because people won’t The ever thinner bezel on the even faster phone Pushing ever faster G-speeds That your zoom calls struggle to keep up with The perfectly laid tiles And fresh coats of paint on the walls And neatly arranged flawless furniture And yes, designer tableware! No warts No Blemishes None of that ugliness Or uncertainty and chaos Of a world falling apart Of dying soils, air, species, hopes, Or the pressure of a sense of responsibility, The weight that being a custodian brings Seeps into the perfectly assembled mirage of your everyday The illusion of the comfort zone lives on For one more day For now